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4.
Aims and research questions
The objective is to broaden the concept of 'mental health' as well to include the more generic concept of 'well-
being', this in order to be able to identify possible preventive actions in schools on the mental health theme.
To do this you will analyze a corpus of studies about understanding and use the 'mental health' term in school:
what factors they act, how they act and what are the implications of such understanding; and to relate the
academic results with the results of mental health treatments to verify the strong bond.
Also the question is whether the differences between school and non-school environment influences the mental
health treatment and how it is possible to relate and compare the different measures from the two fields of
interest.
Theoretical background
The theoretical framework of analysis is a socio-ecological and systemic view, the conceptual understanding are
the result of a complex interaction between individual, organizational and societal levels.
These individual, organizational and social factors are however in close cultural relationship with the analyzed
territory (Norway), in this discussion we will try to compare the results with the Italian reality known and
experienced by the writer.
Important: the examination of the correlation between the two different results (academic and mental) has not
yet been done.
The previous reviews give results where are mixed or excluded one or the other data, some small results,
however, argue that there is a positive impact on educational outcomes through a mental health treatment.
But this happens in a context where the 'mental health' term is unfamiliar and often negatively charged. A job,
even cultural, aiming to positively charge this concept could lead to an improvement in both areas. It is also a
linguistic and semantic work since the very meaning of charge language and it is the mirror to the culture that
expresses it, then builds it.
In this regard we should remember that in education is not only the 'votes', but also the way in which we relate,
the attendance, the motivation, etc.
With regard to the original data and previous research there is little information on the way the data were taken.
In addition many mental health treatments are acted in the non-school field and there isn’t a precise data on how
and how much the programming and educational outcomes will change according to what happens in this area.
In the Italian context there are various procedural documents linking the scope of non-school mental health
treatments to the field of school curricular and disciplinary results. Here it is not possible to consider this type of
influence.3
, but according to Foresight Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project (2008) a small increase in the
average of the popular welfare it would produce a substantial reduction in mental disorder diseases.
3 – for 'educational plans' and other documents such as the Dynamic Functional Profile (PDF) see Linkography
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5.
Teachers, therefore, are found to be in the front line with their core competencies.
The teacher's role has changed from being a single actor to part of a system. Research tells us (Bronfenbrenner
(1979, 2005), ecological systems theory) that there is a shift of attention beyond the individualistic approach and
a take care of a positive learning environment. This places the school in a central switching point.
The concept of mental health depends on the time, place, culture and the environment but there are some useful
categorizations provided by the research:
Universal prevention: directed at all pupils (such as increasing the awareness and knowledge
mental health through education programs in schools).
Selective prevention: directed at groups of pupils with a known and increased At risk of developing problems
(eg refugee children or pupils with learning difficulties).
Indicated prevention: directed at pupils with high degrees of symptom load, but without qualifying for a
medical diagnosis.
Existence of various optional programs for mental health4
Methodology
Review: 1500 articles, only 85 meet the mental health screening criteria for academic achievement within 21
years.
Coding and grouping into categories without aggregation of data with focus group interviews and research on
the basis of a statistical approach with mixed method.
Statistical inferences were made about the conceptual understanding differences between the groups of teachers
according to the independent variables of the individual (sex, age, educational background and years of
experience) and the organizational level (type of school, the school and participation dimensions of mental
health training programs).
In the opinion of the writer they are missed sociological research that measured the deviation from the common
understanding of the mental health term. This could affect the reading of the data as specified below.
4 – for Italian programs see Linkography
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6.
Results and impact
To tie the academic results to the results of mental health treatment would be helpful to standardize the various
assessments and data collection. This would also receive standardized data from other areas such as health
workers, family and kids and so on. As an example we mention the 'logbook' (registro elettronico5
) adopted in
some Italian schools.
However, the promotion of mental health (prevention and therefore perceived as positive instead of a negative
value if it is lived as a care) focuses mainly on the issues of: 28.6 Disruptive behavior, Anxiety / avoidance 24.0,
Inattention / hyperactivity 12.3. Who wins on an educational outcome group wins even on a mental health
outcome, unlikely otherwise.
Note: many of these treatments take place in the schools! Where it also continues to underestimate the
educational outcomes while very close to the problems like anxiety, inattention or hyperactivity.
With these studies are shown not to affect the result nor the type of mental health intervention, nor the indicator
you choose to measure it.
It is learning that the primary role of young people is to be students and academic success is multifaceted;
measuring educational outcomes almost exclusively in the form of academic performance, but we should also
keep in mind the relationship with car-giver, socio-economic status and also disaggregate the data docimological
about mere "academic achievement".
The teacher's central role (as an individual, as a professional and as a citizen) is to understand the physical,
social and emotional development are an integral part of mental health to be considered much more than a mere
absence of disease because it is fundamental to be able to cope with the normal stresses of life, work
productively and fruitfully and make a contribution to their community6
.
If mental health is regarded primarily disease and diagnosis are likely to be perceived as in a field outside the
competence and teacher preparation instead of being perceived as training and individual care in daily practice.
The 'mental health' term is, however, closely related to the disease and the diagnosis for many teachers and
therefore negatively charged, but teachers who have more years of experience are the less negatively charged
than those who have less experience.
These teachers also report significantly higher levels of organizational support on mental health promotion.
All groups agree that the term is perceived as strange and rather strange in a school context and some teachers
express a clear refusal to use the 'mental health' term for fear of making the biggest problems and difficult to
resolve (stigma and taboo); they explicitly prefer the term 'well-being'.
In contrast to this, another group is anxious to clarify the concept, an essential requirement to be able to discuss
the issue and to develop a common understanding.
Everyone sees the experience as the true basis of knowledge and studies showing how the experience will
contribute to a more positive understanding of the concept of mental health, therefore, research seems to say that
it does not depend on how much you work or when you are stopped studying but where and with whom you are
working.
5 - The ‘registro elettronico’ (or electronic register) is an online tool that Italian schools should have adopted
under the provisions of the Decree Law of 6 July 2012, n. 95, converted with amendments by Law No 7 August
2012. 135 "Urgent provisions for the review of public spending by invariance of services to citizens"
see → https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registro_scolastico
6 - in this see articles 3 and 4 of Italian Constitution also mentioned at the beginning of the document.
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7.
This is a very important fact in terms of social dynamics increasingly network-connected, always less individual
and increasingly in the relation.
The results indicate a slight tendency for teachers with additional training in psychology and / or special
education to try to use the term 'mental health' than teachers without such education, and in fact the participation
in training programs on mental health in schools appears to play a role, the problem may be a disconnect of the
term for how it is understood by the school and how by the family or the society; ‘schooling’ to a correct use of
the term may not mean to listen to how this term is perceived by students, families and society in general. It 'a
cultural complex path to which we must put the right attention not to further stigmatize mental health but try to
shoot down a taboo; school and teachers are always more related with the land and their job can no longer be
confined to the education but must become long life learning training tout court.
The concept has changed from being mostly negatively charged to become a more neutral or positive term. The
change also involves the reduction of stigma, however, the results indicate that there is still
long way to go before the concept becomes familiar to the school context, the teacher's vocabulary and to
society in general.
The consequences of stigma
Mental health conditions are still seen by somebody as manifestations of personal weakness or lack of will. This
is largely due to misconceptions about the causes and nature of mental health conditions, focusing causes even
with a biographical path could be one of the strategies to be used. 35% of students who suffer from mental
health problems declare to be treated in a negative way, including being accused, avoided, dislike, excluded or
feared by their teachers. It lacks a clear distinction between mental problems and madness in common usage.
Individual factors: training and experience
Research indicates that you know more about common sense than for actual preparation. The writer feels that
this is the difference between 'education to the concept' and 'concept of competence', it takes perhaps a ‘real’
preparation but this must be united to the good sense of the experience.
In the writer's academic career, for example, there are disability and clinical psychology, pedagogy of care and
education of the family, special pedagogy and others examinations that address the issue of mental health and
school performance, however the knowledge must always joined the practice and experience in the classroom as
well as the common feeling.
Then there is a political and media informations problems related to national realities of each state and then of
all state educational institutions.
It is noted, however, the concept of mental health as an educational continuum and a lack of organizational
support can power the sense of 'gatekeeper' to identify those at risk.
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